9 Burmese Workers Injured in Bangkok Factory Blast

A screenshot from Thai TV 3 shows the aftermath of a boiler explosion at a cloth-dyeing factory in Bangkok. (Photo: Thaitv3.com)

Nine Burmese workers are being treated at Bangkok’s Samut Prakan hospital after a boiler exploded at a cloth-dyeing factory on Sunday morning, injuring 22 people in total.

Thein Naing, labor attaché at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, said that two Burmese workers were among five people who sustained serious injuries in the blast in the city’s Samut Prakan Muang district.

“Two Myanmar people are in the intensive care unit, while seven [Burmese], who were hurt from burns and the debris, are receiving treatment for injures,” Thein Naing said.

“I talked to a couple of workers who can speak, but others were asleep, maybe due to the medicine they were given for the pain.”

A boiler in the dyeing factory exploded at dawn, blowing off the factory’s roof. The blast was caused by the boiler being empty of water, and caused damage worth an estimated 1 million baht (US$31,000), according to the Bangkok Post newspaper.

Night shift workers were on duty at the time, but no one was killed. The injured Burmese, who are legally registered as migrant workers, were in their lodgings behind the factory at the time of the blast.

“As it was Sunday, they were at home, preparing to go for their shift or resting on their day off,” said Thein Naing, who went to meet the workers on Sunday afternoon.

The attaché said he had talked to the Thai employer and Thai social welfare authorities to make sure the Burmese workers are given health care and compensation in accordance with Thai law.

“The Thai employers said they would take full responsibility for all the damages,” said, Thein Naing.